Particularly in the wake of the nation’s renewed attempts to reckon with racial justice, there has been a greater awareness about the power of money to make social change. It’s easier than ever for investors to understand and make conscious decisions about which companies they hold. Resources like As You Sow’s Prison Free Funds tool are now publicly available, to help individuals “find out if your money is invested in” economic systems like “the prison industrial complex, exploitative prison labor, and immigration detention centers.” According to As You Sow CEO Andrew Behar, the release of the tool was fast tracked for this moment, when “investors are increasingly wary of their money benefiting companies that contribute to ‘racist policies’ in the U.S. which disproportionately affect Black people and other people of color, such as long sentences for nonviolent offenses and the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border.” Additionally, wealth manager and investor resources like NorthStar Asset Management’s “Prison Labor in the Supply Chain” paper, Robasciotti & Philipson’s “Racial Justice Exclusion List,” Cornerstone Capital’s “Investing to Advance Racial Equity” research, and my firm Candide Group’s “Financial Activist Playbook for Supporting Black Lives” are encouraging peers to identify and screen out for-profit prisons and ancillary companies. Read Full Article - Forbes, August 20, 2020
